This example by Randal helped me figure out how to keep the process alive.

Perhaps you guys can solve the other part of the equation. Right now I'm doing something like this:

 #===== Open I/O pipes and run the process
  $pid = open3(\*DEV_NULL, \*OUT, \*ERR, "my_long_process");
  
  #===== Print the results
  while (<OUT>)
  {
    $buffer .= $_;
  
    #===== Update the display cache
    $cache->set($session, [0, $buffer]);
  }
[download]

Which works, except it waits until my_long_process completes before it sends any output back to the browser. If my_long_process takes an hour to run, the browser sits there for an hour with no updated information.

Is there a way to set open3() to an unbuffered mode so it returns what my_long_process is doing in real time?

Failing that, is there a better way to do this long process in the fork such that I can get its results as its doing things rather than waiting until the end?

Thanks!

CT